Scar
by Hawkear of WindClan
Summary: THIS WILL MAKE YOU CRY. Fair warning. Inspired by Nijuukoo @ Tumblr's art of the same name. Find it, look at it, and cry rivers of blood like I did. I don't even know why I wrote this sad story, it just had to come out of my head.


Scar

_Inspired by the Artistic Works of Nijuukoo Tumblr_

"_I'm so sorry Roxas...It wasn't supposed to be this way._"

* * *

It was thirteen years ago that the Organization first showed itself. A large band of cloaked men with dark intentions had apparently been amassing members world-wide before ever making a move on the planet's _lower beings_. Military powers were corrupted by them. Presidents, Ministers, and all other high powers were wiped out. Stable government was lost everywhere. The Organization took over, and no one could lift a finger to stop them.

Axel was one of the select few to be in the top ranks. He was handsome, skilled, and very charismatic. Those three little traits come in handy when taking over the world. Those same traits are what landed a certain blond a place in the Organization right beside him. Axel had been watching him – Roxas, that is – for several months as he worked hard to please his superiors. The kid had talent and a thirst to prove himself, but there was an underlying tone of innocence that had to be crushed if he were to survive.

Axel couldn't let that happen. He singled-out Roxas for everything – from impressive work on stealth missions to his damn good boot-polishing skills. He wanted to keep an eye on the kid, make sure no one else got their grubby paws on him, and for a while, it worked.

Then he crossed the line.

* * *

"I-I'm sorry, but wha...?"

"Go on a date with me." Axel grinned down at his friend, pleased to see he could still surprise him after eight months of working together.

"But...why?" Roxas stared up with that adorable confused expression.

"Because I like you, you like me – _ergo_, we date. Simple as that." He held out his hand and jerked his chin towards his favorite coffee shop. "C'mon, one date won't kill you."

The blond quirked a brow. "No, but the scones in that place will." He eyed Axel up and down and gave a shrug of his shoulders. "Fine, but I choose what we do. Deal?"

Axel grinned. "Deal."

Four ice creams and two movie tickets at Axel's expense later, the new couple strode through the quiet city streets towards their home. Curfew was in effect for all persons not a member of the Organization, the shop windows were dark and empty, and the bus stop benches looked eerie under the flickering light of the lampposts. Roxas was holding Axel's hand as he looked out over the river, once always busy with tourists on ferry's and couples in paddle boats, now still and quiet. He looked up at his partner – friend? Boyfriend? - and slowed to a stop.

"What is it Roxas?"

"...I remember this spot." He released Axel's hand and moved to the black railing separating them and the water, the dark surface at least ten feet down. "My mom would tell me that this is where dad proposed to her. She said she was standing right here and had heard him shouting from a boat near the other side." Roxas stared out at the bank so far away from them. "He shouted his proposal then dove into the water and swam all the way over here to her. She told me how she couldn't turn him down after that display." He looked back at Axel. "Why Axel?"

The redhead stared down at him. "Why what Roxas?"

"Why did you kill them?"

The mood of the night shifted. Suddenly they were no longer two people in love, just two men trying to find their place in the world they had created. Axel had no answer ready for him. Roxas was not waiting for one.

"I'm not going back."

"You can't do this Roxas. They won't let you – _I_ won't let you." Axel grabbed his friend by the arms and held him close. "You have to believe me – _I didn't do it_. Xemnas ordered-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Roxas pushed himself away and stared hatefully at his partner. "_They weren't doing anything wrong!_ They were only taking people into their home and giving them a place to sleep at night and food in their stomachs – _how does that warrant what you did?_"

"Damnit Roxas you're not listening!" He took a step forward, Roxas took a step back. "I was told to stop them, but I couldn't do it knowing who they were – knowing they were your parents. The task was given to someone else, and I got shit for it. Please Roxas, it had to be done. They were aiding people who are against us." Axel tried again to close the space between them.

Roxas' back hit the rail, he had nowhere to run.

"I'm sorry Roxas."

"...I'm sorry too." Roxas threw himself over the railing, and he was gone.

* * *

"Yes Xemnas, you rang?" Axel drawled, not bothering to stand at attention, instead plopping himself down on a leather sofa with his feet propped up on the armrest.

"Get your feet down."

There was _flu-bump_ of boots hitting the wood floor.

"You are to perform a Punishment Display this evening, Axel. Sunset. Use whatever you desire." The public leader of the Organization never once looked up from the papers on his desk. "Dismissed."

Axel scoffed and stood up, walking straight out of the main building to the coliseum where his newest task will take him. He hadn't been given such an order in a while, ever since Roxas had left and join the Rebellion. Axel's hands clenched into fists at the thought of it – Roxas sitting in some dark basement full of sick, pitiful souls with no idea what they were up against, simply put on this earth to be destroyed for being stupid. The Organization member made his way through the long halls of the coliseum to his sanctuary, a lone room away from all the rest, filled to the brim with every torture device you can imagine.

This is all he needed. Not Roxas. Just this.

* * *

The crowd was silent all around him as Axel stood wearing his formal attire in the center of the coliseum. His multi-tailed whip in hand, Axel waited for the prisoner to be brought out before him. Typically, this pathetic excuse for a human will have just gone through four-to-six months of torture in the cells, with no daylight at all. It always made for a good show to see them stumbling out in their shackles, arms held up to shield their eyes from the blinding light of the sun. Axel wondered briefly why he was performing this act at sunset rather than high noon as preferred, but dismissed the thought. It didn't matter anyway.

The silence of the crowd thickened as the sound of clanking chains echoed from behind Axel. He stood up straight and waited, eyes cast ahead, whip firmly in his grasp as the prisoner was lead to stand behind him. As the person's crimes were listed for all to hear, Axel tuned them out and fiddled with the baize cloth on the handle of his weapon. He ran his fingers over the steel barbs of wire at the ends and turned nonchalantly when it was his time to act.

"_No..._"

Roxas stood still, eyes boring straight into Axel's as he waited patiently for what was to come. He was paler than Axel remembered, and robbed of his elegant Organization garb, left in only the tattered pants they threw at all their prisoners and slaves. The blond stared at him with the same hate he showed the last night they had spent together.

"_Go on Axel_." Roxas' voice was hoarse, cracked. "_Do it. I have no regrets._" He stared up at his former friend, bare feet burning on the sand beneath him still hot from the day's sun.

"Roxas...I-I-" Axel looked up at the place where Xemnas sat, his leader smirking down at him, eager for his assassin to begin. The redhead stared back down at Roxas. "If I don't, they'll only bring in someone else to hurt you." He whispered, walking around to run a hand over his friend's bare back. "So I will hurt you deeply Roxas. So that they cannot beat you harder." He raised his hand, prepared to strike-

"_You already have._"

* * *

The crowd was gone. Their leader's chair was empty. The sun had set over the wall of the coliseum an hour ago, throwing Axel and Roxas into darkness. The former of the two hadn't let go of the blond since he had fallen to his knees from the pain. Axel had to quietly admit that he was impressed, the kid lasted at least forty lashes before it was too much.

Roxas never broke though. He didn't plead, didn't cry, at least not until it was over. Though once he fell into Axel's arms, the tears wouldn't stop. His entire being ached from the inside out, the deep gashes on his back nothing compared to how he had already felt before. Roxas barely noticed he was being carried inside until he heard the metal gate slam behind them. He couldn't bring himself to look up at Axel though, not yet.

Axel didn't mind, he deserved it after all. He walked with Roxas bleeding in his arms just like that until he reached his home far from the coliseum. His clothes were soaked with blood now, but that didn't matter, they were going to be burned anyway.


End file.
